2. AVG Internet Security for Mac – Effective Mac antivirus
Covers: macOS
AVG Internet Security for Mac is easy to download from the AVG website, downloads and installs easily, and once permissions have been assigned to your entire hard drive, you’re good to go. Best of all, it is available as a 60-day trial period before billing begins.
AVG Internet Security focuses on four directives: Computer Protection, Web & Email Protection, Hacks Attacks, and Payment Protection. The Smart Scan feature checks your virus definitions to make sure they’re up to date and scans for viruses and malware. A Ransomware Shield, Network Inspector, and Fake Website Shield features look things over to see where you stand in terms of your overall online presence and security.
The set of whitelists and exceptions can be customized to hone in on files you want to scan and leave out areas you want to leave alone. A quick antiviral scan took a few minutes while a full scan of an entire NVME drive with 821GB of data on it took just over 5.5 hours to complete.
Scans on external drives and specific folders are easy to set up and execute, the scheduling feature works well, the software can set up location configurations, and there are customization options for network security.
Tests with malware and phishing-based websites went well. The software, combined with macOS’s Gatekeeper functionality, stopped the vast majority of sample malware installations, quarantining them quickly and preventing installation. The software also prevented questionable external code from being loaded on suspect websites and blocked phishing sites from loading.
There are a few places for improvement with AVG Internet Security for Mac, but not many. During testing, the software allowed a fake version of Adobe Flash Player to be installed. If you do override the macOS Gatekeeper and AVG security features and install malware, AVG Internet Security does a good job of removing it.
If there’s one thing I might change about the software, it’s the fact that the scheduled scan feature doesn’t readily display that the scan is taking place.
AVG Internet Security for Mac catches an impressive amount of viral, phishing, and malware activity for a consumer package, and does its job well, all while wrapped in a bright, friendly user interface that’s easy to navigate. Granted, given the subscription pricing and packages, a VPN client wouldn’t be out of the question, and the price point for a single device moves into questionable territory, but the software still performs well, travels well with its location settings, and this is appreciated.
Have a look at its 60-day trial to see what works, what doesn’t, and what might be right for you. You may also be interested in trying the free AVG AntiVirus for the Mac. Despite being free, AVG’s free AntiVirus covers all the bases: blocking viruses and malware from websites, downloads, and email attachments. AVG will scan applications and check every file and remove threats from your Mac. It auto updates so you shouldn’t miss out on protection from the latest threats.
- AV Test, June 2024: 100%
- AV Comparatives, AV Comparatives, June 2024: 100% Mac Malware Protection, 98% Mac PUA Protection, 100% Windows Malware Detection.
